[semi-open] brace your everything, basaras are fighting

[dairekka]

CHARACTERS: Yukimura Sanada (dairekka) and Masamune Date (wardance)/ if anyone wants to show up and shake their heads in despair, or if anyone is curious and wants to see two losers beating each other up/attempt to intervene at their own risk... then please feel free to!
DATE: During the stay in Oska, following this conversation.
WARNINGS: ... Sengoku Basara characters fighting is a warning in and of itself.
SUMMARY: Masamune has been dealing with intensely giant amounts of manpain after the events in Nalawi, and some events in Oska. Luckily, Yukimura is here to beat it out of him.



[The air outside the castle is fresh and clean, and Yukimura has no issue waiting around outside for Masamune to show up.

Talking to Masamune had only confirmed his concerns that there was something wrong here. He'd wondered, but without the chance to actually talk as directly as possible to the man, he hadn't been able to confirm the discomfort and odd attitude the one-eyed dragon had been displaying recently. He knew there had been some painful fallout from the arguments that had occurred on Nalawi - he'd been involved in a few himself, and knew that Masamune had dealt with some especially cutting ones. Perhaps his current attitude derived from that? He couldn't say.

So, all he could do was offer what they did best - a fight. It wasn't complicated, or deep, but Yukimura always found a battle helped spark a fire within him, and cleared his mind of anything too complicated, leaving only the instinctual movements and thought patterns associated with a challenge battle. If it helped, then he would feel like he'd achieved something beneficial to aid someone he respected.]

Comments

[wardance]

[ At least in his disposition, Masamune is swift. He feels no need to acknowledge the world around him in this mood. And he isn't feeling particularly awful either, but he still isn't himself. And he can't just keep taking it out on Kojuro, even though he just wishes the older man could somehow just make it all better and things would be settled out. In a sense, Kojuro had mostly dragged out the anger and violent reactions, but he's still left in this... state of wanting to be alone and only alone. Since his talk with the child version of Gil, Masamune has spent his time in his room alone and in silence. He barely moves, only getting up to drink tea or eat the minimum he has to in order to not become physically weak or ill and to check on Sieglinde when she is asleep to make sure she is not suffering and is otherwise comfortable.

The young Date lord then retreats back to his room and into bed, to stare off at nothing. He focuses only enough to make sure to get mind blank—he's not interested in actively feeling bad for himself. He simply wishes to do as he had said: rebuild his walls until summoned. There's no reason for him to be doing anything else, anyway. There is no one who needs him specifically or anything he must do that only he can do like back home. Although it's silent and he has his trouble recalling the time span, the lack of activity and interaction is not... detrimental to him getting over everything, at least.

When he steps outside of the castle, he looks to locate Yukimura and does so quite quickly, heading over to him once spotting the red jacket. ]

Already here I see.

[dairekka]

[He does stand out a little, it's true.]

I was in the area, so I came here straight after I spoke to you.

[Standing up, he dusts off his clothes and motions at the path towards the forest. Face to face, Masamune's mood seems even more complex, and if Yukimura can tell that so clearly then it certainly must be bad. He is fully aware he is not the most observant of people, after all.

But Masamune's mood is almost palpable - like waves of tired, drawn ... almost depression. Certainly hurt and betrayal.

He cannot offer wise words as some closer to Masamune may be able to, but he can offer him something only he is able to give - the thrill of a battle between rivals.]

This way. The forest should provide a complex terrain to add some more interest to a battle.

[wardance]

[ Yukimura will find himself brought to a sudden halt by one of Masamune's blades reaching out to obstruct his path. Initially, the sharp edge is horizontal facing in a threatening manner but once Yukimura halts, the young Date lord tilts the flat edges into the same horizontal position in a passive gesture to suggest a desire for the Takeda general's attention. ]

Why wait until we get there? First challenge— can you get there without me landing a successful hit on you?

[ The One-Eyed Dragon smirks, lowering his sword now to resheath the single blade and redraw all six properly between his fingers. Better be ready, Yukimura, because he's not really giving the tiger cub any chance to say yes or no before he goes to take the first swing right towards his closest side. ]

「Okay! Let's Dance!」

[dairekka]

[Yukimura stops just in time to avoid walking into the blade, and glances up at Masamune. Regardless of Masamune's sudden battlelust, given his initial heel dragging, he does want to keep this battle to the forest if he can. Fighting at home is one thing - the people usually around them are experienced fighters, but he doesn't known and can't say the same for everyone here.]

Yes. I believe I can.

[He draws his spears as soon as Masamune lowers his own sword to draw all six of them. As with all things Masamune, instinct is the best thing to go off of. He crosses his spears in front of himself, catching the swing with one of them before it hits. Forcing his arms out, he swings his own weapons in an arc to both strike and dislodge the blades tangled in one of his spears.

Then he takes two steps back and grins, broadly and excitedly.]

You will have to catch up to me first.

[Annnnnnnnnd he's gone, running towards the forest covered area.]

1/2

[wardance]

[ Masamune is left alone for a few seconds, just enough time to give a reaction to a person that would still be around to receive it if they were anyone other than Yukimura.

Instead, the dragon's snort of amusement is to himself only (or any others that happen to have strolled by the castle main entrance so far).
As the warlord looks off towards the forest, his face is more expressive than its been in some time, a real spark of life in his visible eye.

His expression turns from a smirk to a grin as he takes the step to tip forward into a run before he's gone as if he was never there in the first place.

(It's nice to know even after everything, some things don't change and the thrill to live is still a thing that exists.) ]

[wardance]

[ Yukimura is fast but so is Masamune. The Maybe even faster than the tiger cub, although if there were an advantage of speed favoring Masamune then there was an advantage of strength for Yukimura to even them out. They are perhaps just a little too fast regardless, considering it takes them no time at all to be at the forest.

Yukimura may make it there before Masamune even strikes--or almost, anyway. The dragon has absolutely no intention to try and end the challenge before they even get there but he also can't just let Yukimura get there without a least one attack on principle. So it's just before Yukimura steps over the threshold of the forest that he'll need to turn around to catch Masamune going to ram straight into him with both claws and use Yukimura's momentum as well as his own to have them go sliding into the forest on the ground a bit before Yukimura will be able to stop them completely. ]

Well, looks like you made it. [ His tone is as amused as his expression suggests. ]

[dairekka]

[There is a pure thrill to moving on instinct, and instinct alone. Overthinking and analysing a battle with Masamune is dangerous and reckless - the speed he has means that pure instinct is all Yukimura has to, and should, rely on.

He spins around, locking weapons with Masamune and letting the force of the clash push him backwards - skidding past the threshold of the forest and into the foliage. When they slow, he uses his grip on the ground to push distance between them, and leaps backwards to land a decent distance from Masamune.

Straightening up, he tilts his head thoughtfully, taking in Masamune's expression. There's a spark there; a brightness the other man has been lacking since his return from his solo mission. Since he last saw him in Nalawi, really. Around the time of all the arguing was when that cloud had seemed to fall over his head. It's... surprisingly relieving to see if lift, if just for a moment.]

I am offended you doubted me.

[He clearly isn't.

Arcing his spears around, he positions them; one in front and one placing just a little back, prepping for strike and defense as necessary.]

It feels like it has been a long time since we have fought like this. I am looking forward to it.

[That burn, that overwhelming urge to fight. It lies dormant and then bursts forth without him realising he had been missing the feeling, or neglecting it. Yukimura has no issues in bringing it up to the surface again now and indulging in it completely.]

[wardance]

You have no idea. [ Masamune responds to that claim of how long it's been.

He really possibly cannot. Because although he had been with Yukimura before being dragged in by ALASTAIR, Masamune has not had a full-on fight since their ALASTAIR team set foot on the bloody cobblestones of Anwick.

For Masamune, Yukimura can do a thing no one else can—he can make the dragon forget everything and everyone to solely focus on him and their battle. For the young Date lord, it feels suddenly as if nothing that's been pulling him down exists, like it never happened and even the fleeting thought of it might having been a thing was merely fleeting circumstance at some point in a far off dream. All that exists is right now and each second forward that prolongs this moment from ceasing.

This is where he can be himself, this is where he can truly be alive and thrive. This is where he faces no judgments for what he or how he thinks or what his values are because they understand each other in ways no one else can. There's nothing he needs to hide and no reason to hold back.

There's little time wasted as Masamune rushes forward again, fully expecting he'll be stopped in place by the strength behind great fangs (spears) clashing against his claws (swords). ]

So, remind me of what I've been missing, Tiger of Kai!

[ The grin on his face rises high on his mouth with lips parting to bare teeth. But unlike when given to so many others, this expression is not a suggestive screen to veil something much more unpleasant being felt by the One-Eyed Dragon. His expression is excited and predatory, having conflicts with neither his desires nor his revel in the battle high that's to come.

Pulling himself back to be able break the deadlock between their weapons, the young Date lord will press attack after attack, aiming to catch any retaliations that are not purely defensive on his rival's part as well as find any possible opening where he can land an attack. He'll halt his offensive where necessary but he has no plans of letting Yukimura get him into a defensive mode, even if the other is basically also on equal offensive with him in the end. They are creatures of habit and rather stubborn in their design. Their compatibility isn't in yielding for the other party but rather simply refusing to change course and the other half doing the same. It's how they expect each other to be because anything more accommodating would be seen as an insult. ]

[dairekka]

[He may not be able to fully comprehend how long Masamune has been waiting for a battle like this, but he can understand somewhat. He hasn't fought since he arrived here, and he can feel it rumbling and boiling within him - that urge for a challenge, a true fight with someone who understands and would never pull his punches.

Masamune is the only person who can satiate that urge. Match him blow for blow, give as good as he gets and push Yukimura to be his very best. It's an urge he never wants to ignore, and in this world, this place he can indulge in it in a way that he couldn't back home. Not in quite the same way.

He can tell this is what Masamune needs right now - fighting without limitations, and knowing he will fight someone who will not judge or think outside of the battle itself. A chance to focus on just this.]

Prove to me that your time here has not dulled your blades, Lord Masamune!

[He meets the blows strike for strike, deflecting with his spears and jabbing his own strikes back - the clash and clang of steel ringing through the forest. When he is push back, he uses the terrain around him to push against and propel himself back into the fray, swinging his spears in a wide arc.

This is what he has been missing. This is something he could, and should indulge in while he is here, while there is no war for Japan clawing at their backs and no divisions to prevent them for focusing on what matters to them the most.]

[wardance]

[ That is what he must prove, indeed. To Yukimura of course, but also to himself. He owes it to his rival and he owes it to every person that he has interacted with.

( He owes it to Sieglinde, to be able to never have her feel a need to doubt her safety and that he will always be there for her. He owes it to Muneshige, to continue as they must with the same strength and heeding as men like them are expected to. He owes it Kida, to not fall to the wayside in times of strife and discord amongst those deemed closest. He owes it to Gilgamesh to be a dragon that is continually worth pursuing and trying to tame in the first place.

Regardless of how such things affect the relationship, those are the things he has been and needs to continue being.

He owes it to Kojuro to be everything
that Kojuro believes he can be.)

Masamune jumps in timing with Yukimura's arc swing to be able to rise above the weapon and use the blade as a stepping stone to propel himself higher into the air crossing his arms with blades splayed on either side as each is fed electricity that starts to sizzle and crackle in the air. His posture curls forward and inward before his arms spread out and his body stretches out, the action simulating the very 'burst' of lightning that thunders in the air from its heat and intensity clashing.

「Wardance!」

Everything fits into place and there's nothing to ponder or need solving for the right answer or reasons. It's so easy; It's simple.

「Magnum Strike!」 Masamune's initial descent becomes an offensive, thrusting himself in a downward diagonal angle as he maneuvers and pulls back one hand, only releasing it forward when he's in close enough range to potentially land a strike. Instead of merely slashing forward or piercing, he spins his three blades in a juggle to create a continuously round cutting blade by the speed it's done at to be the assailant. Although it very may well be met by defense, he'll use that opportunity to swing out his other hand still holding his remaining katana in a simple but still electrically charged uppercut slash as an attempt to follow up and breach any defense established or exploit any openings in Yukimura's guard if he dares slack enough to offer any.

Everything is simple with the other—and the young Date lord couldn't ask for more. ]

[dairekka]

[Yukimura arches his back slightly - his line of sight following Masamune's path upwards. As soon as he spies the crackles of electricity, he steps back, back and dashes into the cover of the trees.

As soon as he hears Masamune's second attack start, he launches out of the trees, sticking his spears into the ground and using the force of momentum to spin himself at Masamune - he deflects the uppercut slash, and draws back his spears close to his chest. Then, in a flash of speed and fire, he stabs forwards in flurry of continuous motion - aiming at Masamune's torso with short, sharp stabs.

The longer he keeps up the flurry of attacks, the more he hopes - plans - to push Masamune back, bit by bit.]